Wednesday, August 10, 2005
[IWS] UK: Survey HR's role in Mergers & Acquisitions [8 August 2005]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Mercer
Survey - HRs involvement in mergers and acquisitions
United Kingdom
London, 8 August 2005
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1188905;jsessionid=HEH0FXQHSM03SCTGOUGCHPQKMZ0QYI2C
Despite the expected increase in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, one in five HR functions (21%) would not be ready to provide support if their business became involved in a deal, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The survey of over 200 HR professionals found the biggest challenge posed by a merger or acquisition is communicating effectively with employees cited by 39% of respondents. Managing the people issues, such as retaining key employees and identifying suitable roles, was deemed to be the most challenging aspect by 35% of respondents, while the rest (26%) said it was harmonising employees pay and benefits.
Organisations rely heavily on their HR departments during mergers and acquisitions as the way employee issues are handled is crucial to the success of a deal. All the signs show that M&A activity is on the increase, so HR needs to step up to the plate, said Peter Wallum, European Partner at Mercer.
He added: Uncertainty surrounding deals can make employees anxious, so regular communication is paramount. If insufficient information is provided, employees will draw their own conclusions and companies risk losing key staff.
The survey found that 24% of organisations involve HR at the strategy and deal planning stage of a merger or acquisition. Forty per cent of companies engage HR at the due diligence phase, while 36% wait until deal implementation when the two organisations integrate.
HR has a valuable contribution to make in an M&A situation, so the function should be involved as early as possible, Mr Wallum commented.
Notes: The survey was conducted prior to a European web-briefing called Getting HR ready for a merger or acquisition.
M&A activity is expected to increase this year. A recent survey by The Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial found that the percentage of dealmakers who view the current M&A environment as good or excellent jumped to 85% from 72% at the end of 2004, and 45% at the end of 2003.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky *
Director, IWS News Bureau *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor *
New York, NY 10016 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2703 *
Fax: (607) 255-9641 *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu *
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10016
________________________________________________________________________
Mercer
Survey - HRs involvement in mergers and acquisitions
United Kingdom
London, 8 August 2005
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1188905;jsessionid=HEH0FXQHSM03SCTGOUGCHPQKMZ0QYI2C
Despite the expected increase in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, one in five HR functions (21%) would not be ready to provide support if their business became involved in a deal, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The survey of over 200 HR professionals found the biggest challenge posed by a merger or acquisition is communicating effectively with employees cited by 39% of respondents. Managing the people issues, such as retaining key employees and identifying suitable roles, was deemed to be the most challenging aspect by 35% of respondents, while the rest (26%) said it was harmonising employees pay and benefits.
Organisations rely heavily on their HR departments during mergers and acquisitions as the way employee issues are handled is crucial to the success of a deal. All the signs show that M&A activity is on the increase, so HR needs to step up to the plate, said Peter Wallum, European Partner at Mercer.
He added: Uncertainty surrounding deals can make employees anxious, so regular communication is paramount. If insufficient information is provided, employees will draw their own conclusions and companies risk losing key staff.
The survey found that 24% of organisations involve HR at the strategy and deal planning stage of a merger or acquisition. Forty per cent of companies engage HR at the due diligence phase, while 36% wait until deal implementation when the two organisations integrate.
HR has a valuable contribution to make in an M&A situation, so the function should be involved as early as possible, Mr Wallum commented.
Notes: The survey was conducted prior to a European web-briefing called Getting HR ready for a merger or acquisition.
M&A activity is expected to increase this year. A recent survey by The Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial found that the percentage of dealmakers who view the current M&A environment as good or excellent jumped to 85% from 72% at the end of 2004, and 45% at the end of 2003.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
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# posted by SBasefsky : 10:40 AM
